Who Was W. P. Ellis?

William P. Roedd Ellis fy hen daid. Yn anffodus,, iddo farw pan fydd fy nhaid, Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. Nid yw fy hen nain yn gwybod llawer am deulu William. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 neu 2007.

Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Byddwn yn dweud 6'4″ i 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ ei hun. Diolch i'r oes ddigidol, I know more about my great grandfather than his own son did, but the journey was complex and illustrates the joys and challenges of the genealogical journey.

I started out knowing William died in St. Louis, Missouri rhwng mis Mehefin 22, 1917, a Mehefin 21, 1918. Roedd fy nhad-cu oedd y mwyaf yn onest, direct person I have ever known. I knew his information was as correct as his memory allowed. I limited my search to this period even with memory not being 100 y cant yn gywir.

The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 i 1955 to it’s website, pan ddechreuais chwiliad hwn. The first few times I searched, Nid oeddwn yn gallu dod o hyd i William P. Ellis. Yn olaf,, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis City yn y flwyddyn 1917 a 1918 gydag enw diwethaf Ellis.

Yn ffodus, Yr wyf yn taro baw cyflog yn 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” ac enw olaf “Ellis”, so I could have search William Ellis throughout the state until the cows came home and never found him. Finding William’s death certificate was like hitting the lottery.

William was born August 1, 1877, i William H. Ellis and an unknown mother in the state of Kentucky. He lived at 5311A Magnolia Avenue, where died of lung disease on December 4, 1917. The death certificate listed his occupation as a clay miner. St. Louis was home to a large amount of clay mines along S. Kingshighway Boulevard and the “Dogtown” neighborhood at the turn of the century.

These mines turned out the bricks that St. Louis yn dal yn enwog am. William’s death certificate proved that my great grandmother only had limited knowledge of William’s background because she did not know his mother’s name or where she was from. Mae'n her y ddau achyddiaeth a hanes. Os nad ydych yn dweud wrth rywun neu nad ydynt yn cofnodi, y wybodaeth yn cael ei golli.

William moved to St. Charles, Missouri, rywbryd cyn 1900 because he mustered into one of the volunteer units going to fight the Spanish-American War on July 9, 1898, yn St. Charles, Missouri. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Ysgafn Batri A. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.

Mae fy hen fam-gu, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. Maent yn cyfarfod rywbryd cyn 1912, pan fyddant yn priodi. Ar Fai 15, 1912, William P. Priododd Ellis Caroline Leah “Lee” Johan Peter yn St. Charles. Byddent yn croesawu fy nhaid, Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Mehefin 22, 1915, ac erbyn hynny, oeddent yn byw yn St. Louis City. They moved to the city to be closer to his work. Clay mines were located within a couple of blocks of their flat on Magnolia Avenue.

P'un ai oedd o gweithio yn y pyllau clai, ffactorau amgylcheddol, or some other cause, William was stricken with lung problems for six months prior to his premature death on December 4, 1917. Oedd ond 40 mlwydd oed.

His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: Obit o Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Post Anfon, 05 Rhagfyr 1917 Ellis-Ddaeth i orffwys ar ddydd Mawrth, Rhagfyr. 4, 1917, yn 11:20 wyf yn preswylio, 5811 Magnolia Avenue, William P. Ellis, priod annwyl Lena Ellis (nee Johann Peter), tad annwyl Gilbert, ein mab annwyl, brawd, a mab-yng-nghyfraith yn oed o 40 blynyddoedd, 4 mis ac 3 diwrnod. Angladd dydd Gwener am 2:30 pm o Gapel Blederwieden-Dunkmann yn, 1934 St. Louis Avenue, i Fynwent Bethlehem Newydd. Modur.

Ar gyfer blynyddoedd, I thought that William’s lineage traced back through Susan Mustain through to the Plantagenet Kings of Cowardly King John and King Edward III. I recently discovered that I may have traced our lineage through the wrong William H. Ellis. Yn anffodus,, William Ellis is a quite common name in both Virginia and Kentucky. I don’t know if or when I will be able to verify this side of the family back past William P. Ellis and his father, William H. Ellis.

Sources: St. Louis Ôl-Dispatch, Rhagfyr 5, 1917, p. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database

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